FRANCHISE ICONS...WESTERN CONFERENCE

I recently heard an interesting argument about who was a better player: Ray Bourque or Bobby Orr. With that in mind, I think it's time to take a look at the most iconic players of each franchise currently in the NHL. The criteria includes championships won, total stats (with that team), and the importance of that player to the franchise in general. Without further adieu, here are the most iconic players of each NHL team in the Western Conference. The East will be posted later on.

PACIFIC DIVISION

San Jose Sharks- Patrick Marleau
Marleau, the Sharks captain, leads the franchise in games played (838), goals (261), assists (326), points (587), power play goals (79), and game winning goals (49). He has played his entire 11-year career in San Jose.

Phoenix Coyotes- Keith Tkachuk
The Coyotes--then known as the Winnipeg Jets--selected Tkachuk with the 19th overall pick of the 1990 draft, and were rewarded with 10 solid years of play. Tkachuk is in the top 10 in franchise history in goals, assists, goals per game, points per game, power play goals, even strength goals, shorthanded goals, and game winning goals.

Los Angeles Kings- Marcel Dionne
Dionne narrowly edges Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robbitaille to top the list because he finished his career in Los Angeles as a plus-106, neither of the other two are even in the top 10.

Dallas Stars- Mike Modano
There's really no other choice here. Modano has played all 1,362 of his career NHL games with the franchise, and is undoubtedly one of the two or three greatest American born players to ever lace up skates.

Anaheim Ducks- Teemu Selanne
Selanne nearly topped the list for the Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets, but Anaheim is where he belongs. Selanne has the most goals, assists, and points in franchise history, and won the Cup with the Ducks in 2007.

NORTHWEST DIVISION

Vancouver Canucks- Trevor Linden
Linden played over 300 games more than Stan Smyl, second on the franchise's all-time list. He played in Vancouver from 1988-89 through 1997-98, and again from 2001-02 to 2007-08, and led them to the Stanley Cup finals in 1994.

Minnesota Wild- Marian Gaborik
Because there is nobody else.

Edmonton Oilers- Wayne Gretzky
The Great One scored 583 goals with Edmonton, the most in franchise history. Number 99 won four Stanley Cups in five years as a member of the Oilers between 1983 and 1987.

Colorado Avalanche- Joe Sakic
The 15th pick of the 1987 Draft, Sakic has played all 20 of his NHL seasons for the Avs/Nordiques and has 625 career goals. He won two rings--1995 and 2000--as well.

Calgary Flames- Al MacInnis
MacInnis gets the nod over Jarome Iginla primarily because he was a member of the 1988 Stanley Cup winning squad. He beats out Theo Fleury because he had over 100 more helpers than the scrappy forward, and his 822 points (2nd in franchise history behind Fleury's 830) are incredibly impressive for a defenseman. MacInnis was a plus-241 in 803 games for the Flames.

CENTRAL DIVISION

St. Louis Blues- Brett Hull
Hull played 10 years in St. Louis and his 527 goals are leaps and bounds ahead of Bernie Federko's 352 for most in franchise history. He is also the franchise leader in game winning goals with 70.

Nashville Predators- Tomas Vokoun
The only goalie on the list, Vokoun really only makes the cut because the Preds are such a young franchise with no history whatsoever. He nearly doubled Mike Dunham's win total (161 to 81), and has the best goals against average (2.21) and save percentage (.913), and the most shutouts (21) in franchise history.

Detroit Red Wings- Gordie Howe
Howe played with the Wings from the time he was 18 until he was 42. He is the franchise's all-time leader in points, won four Stanley Cups in Detroit, and was a six time Hart Trophy winner as the league's MVP.

Columbus Blue Jackets- Rick Nash
Nash is the all-time leader in goals with 171. He's the face of the franchise, and there isn't really anyone else that could be the best player in Blue Jackets history.

Chicago Blackhawks- Stan Mikita
Mikita narrowly edges Bobby Hull for the top spot because he finished his career with more games played, many more assists (926 to Hull's 549), more points (1467 to 1153), more power play goals (127 to 119), and more game winning goals (67 to 65). Each man one won Stanley Cup with the franchise, in 1960. Mikita and Hull are 1a and 1b, but I'm giving top billing to Stan the Man.